Honorable Delegate:

Congratulations on being a thoughtful and public service oriented delegate to the State Republican Convention

I am Mark Cannon, Chris Cannon’s uncle. I have known and observed all Utah Congressmen since I served as Administrative Assistant for Utah Congressman Henry Aldous Dixon. I had subsequent vantage points as Chairman of the BYU Political Science Department, Administrative Assistant to Chief Justice Warren Burger (who I persuaded to accept the invitation to speak at the BYU Law School dedication) and in directing the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. With the exception of Congressman Jim Hansen, I have not seen any Utah Congressman who has shown as much leadership in Congress as Chris Cannon.

Attached are some documents about Chris. (Click here to see them) Hopefully, these materials will be help you see Chris’ significant accomplishments and leadership, and the great value of keeping his knowledge, experience, commitment, energy, diligence and seniority working to benefit Utah and the nation. As a result of his knowledge and experience with issues characteristic of the western states such as mining, reclamation, land use and tourism, his Congressional colleagues in the Western Caucus in Congress, who know each others’ strengths intimately, elected Chris to be their Chairman and then re-elected him for two more terms giving him six years of this leadership role. To illustrate, he successfully led a continual fight to permit development of oil shale – that can ultimately bring millions of dollars to the Utah Treasury and help lower fuel prices.

Chris’ knowledge, skills and determination enabled him to persuade Congress to enact more of his bills than any other Utah Congressman of the past 30 years except former Congressman Jim Hansen.

The press has noted that his effectiveness has caused colleagues to urge that he be jumped over more senior Members to be the leading Republican on the Government Reform and Resources Committees.

Those of us who believe in traditional values are alarmed at the cultural war against family values. However, Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council stated that Chris Cannon “is to be commended for supporting public policy that values human life, protects our religious liberties, and upholds the institutions of marriage and the family.” Chris fights across the board for family values.

We all worry about the constant growth of government. It takes courage to resist the interest groups. Yet that is what Chris has done. Just this month, Duane Parde, President of the National Taxpayers Union wrote: “If every Member of Congress had voted as responsibly as Chris Cannon did in 2007, Americans could enjoy much lower taxes and less waste in government.” He has consistently been identified as a budget hawk among the top of his colleagues.

Many Americans are frustrated with Congressional liberalism and bureaucratic regulation. I believe that the best way to solve growing problems with practical, common sense solutions is to re-elect Chris and to elect many more like him, who have similar endurance and fortitude.

Your support for Chris would be greatly appreciated by him and all of his supporters! We hope that you will be able to join us on Saturday at the Cannon for Congress booth to ask any questions that you might have.

Very best wishes to you in all of your good undertakings.

Mark Cannon

Dr. Mark W. Cannon